Valentine's Day to Remember
by Mayura-Hikari-090
Summary: Alex poked the kid next to him. “Why didn’t Elle take her candy?” he asked. The kid, at first, shrugged. Then, he said, “She isn’t here today.” Alex/Elle, oneshot, kids!


_Yay! A V-Day treat! Aren't you all so lucky??? Another Alex/Elle, this time when they were kids. I love innocent kid-love. I think it's so precious. So yeah, here's one of my V-day treats. The other two will be posted to my deviantART by tomorrow hopefully (maybe Sunday...check the link on my profile). Oh and it's my cousin's b-day tomorrow! He will be three-years-old! And he's so sweet (fitting, I think). So anyway, enough rambling. Enjoy the story :D_

**Valentine's Day to Remember**

Alex pouted. It was his least favorite day of the year. The day when he had to sit with his mother and fill little pink bags with candy to give to all his classmates whether he liked them or not.

Valentine's Day.

He had to carry the bags in a cardboard box to school, his eight-year-old arms aching under the weight. Then, he had to place one in each of the little folders his class had made earlier that week.

Luckily, he got to tear into the candy that he received—the only upside to the dreadful day.

Their teacher gently reminded them to thank everyone for their presents. Alex mumbled some sort of thanks between bites of chocolate and candy.

As he munched, he noticed that one folder hadn't been removed from the bulletin board. It was especially girly with lots of stickers and pink paper. A name was meticulously printed on the front: _Elle Holloway_.

Alex poked the kid next to him. "Why didn't Elle take her candy?" he asked.

The kid, at first, shrugged. Then, he said, "She isn't here today."

Alex frowned. Elle loved Valentine's Day. She proclaimed that it was the best day of the year. Why wouldn't she be here?

He went to ask his teacher where Elle was. The teacher smiled and said that Elle was probably sick or something. A little flu was going around, after all.

Alex wasn't convinced. He took Elle's little folder down and tucked in his backpack. After school, instead of walking home, he walked to Elle's house.

There was a yellow taxi pulling away as Alex neared. He ignored it and walked straight up to the front door and banged loudly on it.

Judge Holloway opened the door. Alex thought she was going to yell at him, considering her expression. But then she smiled. "Hello there, Alex? What is it?"

"Is Elle here? Is she sick? She missed Valentine's Day. I brought her candy." He opened his backpack and pulled out the pink monstrosity that was Elle's Valentine's Day folder filled with candy and little cards.

"Why that's very thoughtful of you, Alex." Judge Holloway smiled, taking the folder from him. "I'll make sure Elle gets it."

"Can I see her? I just want to make sure she's okay." Alex imagined Elle to be bed-ridden, just minutes from death. His overactive imagination worked that way sometimes. "If she's too sick, I understand. I'll just go."

Judge Holloway laughed. "No, Alex. She isn't sick." She paused. "I suppose you can come inside for a moment. Isn't your mother worried? I'll call her."

Alex wandered upstairs to Elle's room while Judge Holloway called his mother. She probably was worried, but she would understand.

As he neared Elle's room, he could hear crying. He would've thought it was Elle's little sister (Nora was only a year old. She cried a lot), but it didn't sound like a baby. He pressed his ear to the door and found that it was Elle crying.

He pushed the door open, gently. Elle was sitting on her bed, her legs pulled up against her chest, her face buried against one of her stuffed bunnies, sobbing. Alex was almost scared to get close to her. "Um…Elle?"

She looked up. Her face was streaked with tears, swollen and red. She had obviously been crying a lot. "Elle…are you okay? I mean, what's wrong?"

Before he could react, Elle jumped from the bed and threw her arms around Alex's neck. Elle was just a smidgeon shorter than Alex, just enough to press her face against his shoulder.

Alex wasn't used to contact with girls. He was still in the stage where girls have cooties and a real man wasn't seen near one. But still, he felt bad for Elle. He tentatively put his arms around her and hugged her back.

"My daddy's leaving," she sobbed against his shoulder. "My mommy said she doesn't love him anymore so he has to leave."

Alex had never heard of anything like that before. Mommies and daddies always loved each other. It was just something that was true.

The yellow taxicab suddenly made sense.

"I'm sorry, Elle," Alex mumbled. He didn't know what else to say. He could only hold on to her and offer comfort in his presence.

Finally, Elle calmed down. Alex told her that she missed Valentine's Day so he brought her candy. She laughed, strangely enough.

Alex got mad. "What's so funny?" he demanded.

"You can't miss Valentine's Day, Alex," she explained, still laughing slightly.

He gave her a questioning look. "Sure you can," he shot back. "You missed it because you weren't there to open your candy and cards and stuff. You didn't get to thank anyone for the stuff." It seemed logical enough to him.

"Valentine's Day isn't about that. It's about showing someone you care about them." Elle smiled. "I read it in a book."

"Whatever," Alex muttered. "Your mom has your candy downstairs. At least now I know you aren't dying from the flu. That's what the teacher said."

Elle laughed again. He liked to hear her laugh, he realized.

She walked him to the door and hugged him again. "Thanks, Alex," she said, smiling. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"No problem. See you." He started walking down the porch stairs.

As he got the sidewalk, he heard "Hey Alex!"

He turned.

Elle ran down the stairs toward him. "I just wanted to tell you that you gave me the best Valentine's Day present ever," she said all in a rush.

"Huh?"

She blushed prettily. "You showed that you care about me by coming down to see me. I just wanted to thank you again."

Alex blushed, too. "I didn't come down here because I like you or anything!" he spluttered. "I did it so your candy would go bad! I mean, you're a girl!"

She gave him a sly look. "Really?"

"Really! Don't want you to get the wrong idea or nothin'."

Elle grinned again and stepped forward and kissed his cheek. "Sure, Alex. 'Bye!" She skipped back into the house.

Alex gulped. Then he did a quick 360 to make sure no one was watching him. If any of the guys at school knew that Elle had kissed him, he would never live it down.

As he walked home, he wondered at the strange fluttering sensation in his stomach. He dismissed it as being hungry and pulled out an extra piece of chocolate to munch on.

Valentine's Day was never so bad after that though he could never figure out why.

_I have mixed feelings about V-day. I want to hate it because I don't have a sweetie, but I can't because so many people I know do and...yeah. 'Course you shouldn't need a special day to tell your love that you love them. But it's nice to have a special day to devote to that special someone. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!! And enjoy the rest of your Friday the 13th! BWAHAHAHA! **REVIEWS WITH FAVES ARE SO MUCH SWEETER! HAPPY V-DAY! **A little edit: CHECK OUT MY PROFILE CUZ I GOT A QUESTION FOR ANYONE WHO READS THIS (or my other Alex/elle story) PLZKTHX!!!!_


End file.
